Skydivers jump out of plane moments before it crashes and kills pilot

Eight skydivers leapt from a plane just seconds before it crashed, killing the pilot.

Paul Smith, 54, died after the skydiving plane he was piloting crashed in New South Wales, Australia.

The eight skydivers safely jumped from the planeat about 14,000 feet just two minutes before it crashed in the coastal town of Moruya, NSW Police Inspector Justin Marks told reporters.

“The aircraft has come to rest in thick bushland adjacent to George Bass Drive, while the wing has come to a rest on George Bass Drive itself,” he said.

Former skydiving company owner Mr Smith had been skydiving for almost 40 years, and he had more than 10,000 hours logged as a pilot in command.

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He was given the Australian Parachute Federation’s highest award last year, being granted the title of Master of Sport Parachuting to honour his contributions to the sport which he started in 1987, aged just 16.

Mr Smith was the only person on board the plane when it crashed and he was reported to have died at the scene, news.com.au reports.

“A crime scene has been established and will be examined by specialist officers,” a police statement said. Officials are preparing a report to be given to the coroner.

An investigation has also been launched by the The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) looking into causes of the crash and the safety procedures in the run-up to the accident.

“The ATSB is deploying a team of transport safety investigators from its Canberra and Brisbane offices, specialising in aircraft operations, maintenance and engineering, to the accident site,” the Bureau said in a statement.

“Investigators will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities including site survey with a drone, wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra.”

It was still too early to say if there had been any problems in the air, however witnesses reported hearing unusual sounds and seeing strange flight patterns in the final moments before the crash, Chief commissioner Angus Mitchell told reporters.

The single-engine Pilatus Porter plane had only been operating in Australia for a month, he confirmed. “It was built around 1980 in Switzerland and had been brought over from New Zealand,” he said.

“We do know there was a fairly substantive maintenance check done prior to bringing it to Australia. It had done a number of jumps over the past week and a half.”